Rockingham Landfill Gas Abatement Facility

Rockingham Landfill Gas Abatement Facility is an electricity generation from landfill gas project located at the Millar Road Landfill Facility in Baldivis, approximately 10km southeast of Rockingham in Western Australia. Registered in August 2013, the project operates over the existing footprint of the landfill facility, though the exact spatial project area size remains undeclared.

Electricity generation from landfill gas projects involve capturing methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas naturally released by decomposing organic waste, and combusting it to produce electricity. Standard requirements for this methodology include the continuous operation of an active gas collection system to capture gas from both legacy and non-legacy waste that would otherwise be freely vented or flared into the atmosphere without energy recovery.

The surrounding Baldivis and Rockingham region is known for a mix of peri-urban residential development, market gardens, and industrial land use. The area features a Mediterranean climate with a moderate annual rainfall of approximately 654mm, and local soils are predominantly deep, highly permeable sand and limestone typical of the Swan Coastal Plain's Spearwood Dune System.

The project has a notable administrative history, actively transitioning through multiple methodology variations from a revoked 2012 method to the 2015 and eventually 2021 determinations to align with updated baseline and crediting standards. The project's proponent has also changed hands over the years, passing from AGL Energy Services to Sustainable Energy Infrastructure Trust before being acquired by LMS Energy Pty Ltd in 2022. LMS Energy is a major player in this space, partnering with over 40 local councils and operating more landfill biogas projects than any other company in Australia. Furthermore, a long-term carbon abatement contract for the site, which commenced in April 2015, was successfully completed in February 2023.